How to build your own Nintendo arcade machine

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Every year, often just after the California Extreme arcade and pinball expo, I want to put together a home arcade. It's a very silly and costly dream, considering that I live on a college budget and in a modestly sized apartment…girl can dream, right?

I've decided that building a MAME (multiple arcade machine emulator) unit is probably my best option, but the more I look at this Nintendo arcade cabinet, the more I really want to build it.

Interestingly, this unit isn't an original Nintendo Entertainment System shoved in a box. Inside is an old computer running ROMs. The button connections were taken from a Nintendo Four Score adapter which let up to four people play at a time.

Of course, if you're going to build something like this, it's illegal to use and download ROMs unless you own a physical copy of the game. You can find the plans on Instructables.